Anyone know of a good laptop for around $300-$500?

[ferrari91169]

Looking into buying just a cheap laptop ($300-$500) to use. Will be using as main computer as my computer is getting pretty old and starting to crash a lot and has other problems. So far I've found these three that I am interested in.



Satellite L750D-BT5N22 - http/www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cdetland.to?poid=2000027552

HP ProBook 4530s - http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834158284

Satellite L750-BT4N22 - http/www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cdetland.to?poid=2000016389



Which of those would be the best, at basic options? The two Toshiba's do have a few free upgrades and are on sale if ordered before 5/14/2012.

Would I be correct to assume that the L750D-BT5N22 is the best out of those options, for $400? Has an AMD Quad-Core A6-3420M @ 1.5GHz (2.4GHz with Turbo Core), 4GB's of 1333MHz RAM, and a 320GB HDD.

Is there any laptop's currently available for around $300-$500 that are better than that laptop?

Is the A6-3420M Quad-Core 1.5GHz (2.4GHz) better than the i3-2350M 2.3GHz? Including when using basic programs that don't benefit from multiple cores?

Thanks for any help, if you know of any similar or better laptops in that price range, please link them.

Thanks again!

 

[WR2]

Hello

All 3 choices can do a good job with the type of workload you've mentioned.
What do you currently have for a computer? We might be able to do a performance comparison.

I have a preference for the HP ProBook 4530s. The anti-glare LCD screen and the durability of a business class notebook would sway me in that direction.
HP ProBook 4530s review


Toshiba L750D-BT5N22 would be best priced. But it's general purpose performance would lag behind the Core i3 equipped CPUs. But A6-3420M does have superior integrated graphics.

Comparison of Mobile Processors (CPU Benchmarks)
Core i3-2350M is ranked #78 in overall CPU performance
A6-3420M is ranked #158 in overall CPU performance

 

[ferrari91169]

Hello

All 3 choices can do a good job with the type of workload you've mentioned.
What do you currently have for a computer? We might be able to do a performance comparison.

I have a preference for the HP ProBook 4530s. The anti-glare LCD screen and the durability of a business class notebook would sway me in that direction.
HP ProBook 4530s review


Toshiba L750D-BT5N22 would be best priced. But it's general purpose performance would lag behind the Core i3 equipped CPUs. But A6-3420M does have superior integrated graphics.

Comparison of Mobile Processors (CPU Benchmarks)
Core i3-2350M is ranked #78 in overall CPU performance
A6-3420M is ranked #158 in overall CPU performance

Current specs are:

-XP Professional 32-Bit
-AMD Athlon 3800+ 2.6GHz
-2GB's of 800MHz DDR2 RAM
-40GB IDE Hard Drive
-15" Monitor
-Old Asus Motherboard
-No video card to speak of, just using onboard.

But basically would just like something to take to and from work and be able to use as a replacement for my desktop at home. Would like to be able to use basic applications at work, such as all programs included with Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Power Point, etc.) but also be able to use it at home for browsing the web, viewing pictures, editing pictures (not anything hardcore, just simple picture editing like resizing and adjusting brightness/contrast levels etc.)

Won't be using it for gaming or viewing HD Material, or doing any intense photo/video editing.

Thanks for your help!

 

[WR2]

The models you're looking at are very well suited to the workloads you mention.
In a home environment you can more easily control the lighting and notebook location to minimize glare. In an office type setting that's not always possible which is why a matte / anti-glare screen can be a great option.

You can see from this comparison it's a very substantial upgrade in CPU performance.
Passmark CPU benchmark scores:
AMD Athlon 3800+ 2.6GHz = 606
AMD A6-3420M APU 1.6Ghz = 2276
Intel Core i3-2350M @ 2.30GHz = 2932

 

[WR2]

BestBuy has a sale on Toshiba Satellite C655 w/ Core i3-2350M $380

 

[cronos177]

If your looking for casual gaming, go with AMD A6 or A8 solutions.

 

[ferrari91169]

Best answer selected by ferrari91169.